On family, sewing, face painting, sailing, travelling

I guess this quote was actually quite true in our case. Though we had the most amazing experiences on our journey through New Zealand, we had been on the move a lot, and everyone needed to settle down for a bit, and spend some time in one place before going back to the daily grind, which would happen soon enough.

Up until this point, we hadn’t given many thoughts to our final adventure on a remote Bounty-like island in Fiji, but after we returned Børge BumleBus, it somehow became more clear to us, that we still had a quite different and exciting experience ahead of us.

We took a cab from the hotel to the airport just before lunch, and after a 4 hour flight we were greeted with garlands of flowers upon our arrival to the airport in Nadi.

We had one night in a hotel near the airport, before the Yasawa Flyer would take us from Denarau Marina South of Nadi to Nacula Island in the Yasawas. We managed to enjoy the pool, the restaurant, and the mosquitos (or did they enjoy us?) in that evening, before we went back to the room to get ready for an early start the next morning.

The sail with the Yasawa Flyer lasted four and a half hours, but the sea was smooth, and the views of the islands we passed on the way there were beautiful. At one point Ronja and I were outside at the bow of the boat enjoying the view, when suddenly two dolphins jumped out of the water not far from the boat. What a treat!

Finally, we reached our destination in Oarsman’s Bay Lodge, where we would be staying for the next 6 days.

The staff picked us up from the Yasawa Flyer in a smaller boat and took us to the beach right in front of the small resort. We were greeted by the manager and everyone else with drinks and music. She sat down with us to explain how everything works, and then we were taken to our cabin, right at the beach front. A sort of twin cabin, with one side for the kids, and one for Mads and myself.

We went straight onto Fiji time. A concept meaning, that time isn’t that important, you will get stuff done when you get around to it. We were three families in the resort, and a few passers by, but the pace was slow with very little action around. Meals were served to everyone at the same time, and Fiji time applied here as well.

Mads soon found the Vertical Blue Dive Shop which by some stroke of luck was our immediate neighbour. I had been sceptic, but he convinced me that going diving after well over 10 years of not diving at all was a good idea. Soon we were signed up for a check-out dive the following morning.

We dug out masks and snorkels from our luggage and took the girls snorkling on the reef in front of our own house. The reef was beautiful and the water warm – great visibility and lots of colourful fish. Mads and I had a blast listening to the girls squealing with excitement through their snorkels each time they came across another colourful sea creature or shoal of fish.

That day, we snorkled a lot – we all had a bit of a sunburn on the back in the evening. Getting used to the slow pace wasn’t hard at all – and it was just what we needed, I believe.

The following morning after breakfast, Mads and I headed over to the dive center to get ready for our dive. After being fitted with suits and equipment, we got on the boat and headed for the dive site. To my surprise, it was almost like riding a bicycle. Once we hit the water, I was quite comfortable and loved the feeling of diving again – I know the same goes for Mads.

When we got back from our dive, we found the girls busy doing hermit crab race with the girls from the Czech family. Some of the men from the staff had helped the girls draw a racing track with chalk on the floor, and everyone was cheering. What a safe, secluded environment we found ourselves in.

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About the author

40 years old, living with my boyfriend Mads, and our two girls Ronja (11 years) and Frida (8 years). We own a house from 1912, which we used to spend a lot of time renovating. I write about my family - mostly the girls, our house, our sailing, my sewing, and anything else that comes to mind.